I Am Kalam

Tonight, I attended a screening of I AM KALAM, starring Gulshan Grover, along with a superb cast. It is a charming story that speaks to the truth that one's life is guided much more by one's actions than by a predetermined destiny...The main setting, at a roadside snack stand near Delhi is, at once, mundane and exotic, as the workers and foreign visitors interact on a daily basis. And, glimpses inside the private quarters of a royal family are nothing less than eye candy for viewers.

The meat of the story derives from the delightful performances of Mr. Grover and the charming young actor who plays Kalam with fearless truthfulness. Even Laxmi, the camel, draws us in with her gentle ways.

As of this writing, the film lacks a US distribution company...some smart executive should pick it up and get it to American audiences!

Smile Foundation's I AM KALAM is an award winning movie, which has received many honors and appreciated reviews both in abroad as well as in India. No doubt the subject of the film remains one of the favourites of the award giving authorities which happens to be child labour, child education and class divide in India, exploiting the colorful key features of Rajasthan and its people.

But overall I found the film, too simple and sweet with an evenly paced narration and nothing exceptional. It starts off with a poor mother leaving his 10 years old son at a road side dhaba to work in order to help her financially. The dhaba is owned by a kind hearted person and has also another young man working as a helper who is a big fan of Amitabh Bachchan. As the story moves forward the kid becomes friends with another boy of his age only who is a local prince belonging to a royal family of Rajasthan. Now this boy working at the Dhaba, likes to be called Kalam, as his wants to be a big person like the former president Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. With the help of his friend, he starts studying taking his school books at the dhaba. Later, due to few misunderstanding, Kalam leaves for Delhi to meet the president and the rest come after, searching for him.

Now if we talk about the merits of the film, the biggest one remains the award winning child artist, Harsh Mayar's performance who is confident, impressive and sweet all together in the role of Kalam. In fact he is the only one who carries the whole film on his small shoulders like a mature actor and stands tall in front of veteran Gulshan Grover. And both Gulshan and Pitobash Tripathy shine brightly in their underwritten roles too. The other merit of the film is its pace and editing which doesn't give you any dull moment and the film reaches its end quite effortlessly.

Director Nila Madhab Panda shows his sparks in his debut venture, especially in the way he gets the job done from the kids involved in the film. Plus he also takes great care that there must not be any slow moment in his movie right till the end and it should not have any un- necessary melodrama becoming preachy for the audience. The film has a fine background score, striking dialogues and has an eye-catching cinematography showcasing Bikaner, camels and its hotel turned castles elegantly. And I strongly feel that its camera capturing Rajasthan in all its sparkling colours must have influenced the western viewers as usual.

However I really didn't like the way the DOP captured the world famous Karni Mata's Temple of Bikaner, which has thousands of rats moving in the premises of temple freely. If possible do visit the place if you really want to see the unbelievable with your own eyes.

Coming to the points which force me to declare its nothing exceptional, the first has to be the overall feel of the movie. As I see it, I AM KALAM keeps floating on the verge of a deep sea and never enters its deepness. The message of the film does not hit you hard about child education or abolishing the class system in the society.

Secondly, I was very disappointed with the under-written character of Gulshan Grover playing Bhaati, the dhaba owner. He is very much interested in teaching the kid how to make Tea, but he is not interested in sending him to the nearby school ever.

Thirdly, what was the purpose of the one sided love angle track between the foreigner girl and Gulshan Grover? Undoubtedly this seems to be added only to involve the western audiences with the movie and nothing else since the plot has nothing to do with the main theme of the script. Fourthly, there is very less emphasis given to the reason why the boy wants to become KALAM.

Lastly is the most interesting fact which struck me in the last half an hour of the film when Kalam runs away to Delhi in order to meet the honorable President. The plot reminded me of a 1957 Black & White Classic produced by Raj Kapoor and directed by Amar Kumar called AB DILLI DOOR NAHIN.

It was based around a small kid who after being told about the Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, becomes confident that only Chacha Nehru can solve the problems of his father and family. So, he decides to go to Delhi to meet the Prime Minister himself with a letter for him explaining all his problems. Here in I AM KALAM too, the boy sets off to Delhi to meet Dr. Kalam with a letter in his hand for the President. I don't know whether the makers had this classic in mind or not but it does have these acute similarities in its sub plot with the original film. Plus this particular part of the movie also remains its weakest one where everything keeps happening so easily around the key locations of Delhi.

In the acting department, other than the spirited act by Kalam, Gulshan Grover supports the film with his full heart and Pitobash delivers an enjoyable performance. The second child actor, Husaan Saad playing the royal prince acts well and Beatrice Ordeix takes care of the glamour factor in the movie quite easily.

Overall, it remains a simple and sweet movie made around a relevant subject which in turn forced me to go for AB DILLI DOOR NAHIN once again. But I wasn't convinced looking at the list of awards it has won in various festivals and am still wondering why it is being given such a high rating by all.

I just attended the screening of the movie and I must confess that I was overwhelmed with emotions.

Debutant director, Nila Madhab Panda has woven a beautiful story with some heart touching moments which will bring a tear to your eyes. There are superb performances by veteran Indian actor Gulshan Grover, both the child protagonist (the child playing Kalam even won a National award for the role) along with Pitobash,and French theatre actress Beatric Ordeix as Lucy.

The story is about friendship, love, truthfulness self belief and dreams.

Shot in the beautiful and colorful Rajasthan, the movie realistically portrays the relationship between various communities and touches upon topics like child labor, caste, class and the value of education and friendship.

When the director introduced the movie before the screening, he said that the movie was made with very little budget but with a lot of passion, I must say that the passion was evident in each shot. the topic is so sensitive that it could have gone easily into the clichés, thankfully the director remained true to his believes and the final product is one of the masterpieces which have taken the Indian Cinema into a very different and exciting platform.

I would suggest that this movie should not be missed by anyone, especially by children.

Go and watch the movie, you won't regret it.

Nila Madhab Panda's 'I Am Kalam' tells the inspiring tale of an impoverished boy, Kalam, forced by circumstances, to work at a local tea shop owned by Bhatti. Kalam looks at life with a pinch of salt and optimism. He's a fast learner and befriends the customers. His dream is to wear a school uniform and tie and go to school. This dream seems to come close to becoming true when he befriends a young prince but trouble soon follows Kalam.

'I Am Kalam' has both a fairy tale feel and a feel of realness. It is the director's splendid fusion of the two that makes this little film a magical experience. The direction, the score and Sanjay Chauhan's writing are quite simple yet sincere and the story is very easy to relate to. It also has a very lyrical feel to it. The score is mostly a combination of simple sound created with simple instruments (with the exception of the traditional Rajasthani song that takes place in the palace) but it's mesmerizing and among the best I've heard in recent times. The cinematography effectively captures the beauty of Rajathan and the art direction is pleasantly colourful and authentic.

The performances are outstanding. Gulshan Grover delivers one of his finest to date. The rest of the supporting performances by Pitobash, Beatrice Ordeix and especially Hussan Saad are excellent. However, where acting is concerned, the most outstanding performance comes from Harsh Mayar. Extracting a good performance from a child couldn't have been easy but Panda has done it and Mayar delivers one of the most natural performances on screen.

'I Am Kalam' is light and optimistic. It carries the simple message that every single child must be educated and deserves the right to live like a child. The film never preaches this but merely demonstrates it through the story. There is not a single melodramatic moment for it is evident that 'I Am Kalam' comes straight from the heart. Simple, Sincere, Uplifting, Inspiring and Spellbinding are at least five words to describe this precious little gem.

As I am talking about the film "I am Kalam", it simply reminds me of the lines which former president of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam wrote in his memorable book "Wings of fire":

"I am a well in this great land

Looking at its millions of boys and girls

To draw from me

The inexhaustible divinity

And spread His grace everywhere

As does the water drawn from the well."

And I think the director Nila Madhab Panda was superbly taken this valiant poetry forward by transpiring this into a inspirational plot. Offcourse he created a fable, a fairytale along the line of Prince and Pauper but the thread that keep this tale magical was this poetry. Before I give any actual review I must tell that this is really a great film not only for its message but also because it chooses a leader (who has proved ability to inspire) from new bright colorful India, beyond B&W eras of Gandhi and Nehru (though apart from Dr. Kalam, we really have long 64 years of drought of the leaders who we can count on). Every generation needs a leader to inspire its young people to put aside their sorrows and guilt and ascend towards where the sky is. This time its our beloved Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.

"I am Kalam" is a story of a two child one who is from 'havenot' class and other from 'have' class. Former is alive with his all innocence and aspires to become what he can not in normal circumstances. He has examples of Dr. Kalam and Lal Bahadur Shashtri to follow. Other is a Prince-with all the palace to wander, but is lonely. His heart too is innocent. So when they meet they simply bond with each other. They simply complement each other. And at the end they both write their own destiny. So how it is inspiring? It is where the spin of fairytale was yarned that shows the determination and perseverance of one side to acceptance and true friendship of other side.

The film is brilliant and optimistic. No doubt about it. But is this fun to watch? The answer is yes. The writer and director both has put a great effort to never slip in regression of darkness which is cliché in Indian Cinema esp for plot like this. So between those pivotal characters they splattered color, harmony and light so precisely that this film comes as worth watchable.

And this movie sends a clear message to all the people that as Panda said in an earlier interview:

"The idea of the film is to give a message that every child should go to school which is relevant to the right to education and that effort is more powerful than fate. It also urges the privileged masses to join the effort to educate the children and help them to dream and turn their dreams into breathing reality,"

and as writer Sanjay Chauhan said: "Every child has the right to live his childhood, childhood way."

As for the acting everyone does his/her job according to their role.

So for this Indo-French collaboration I will give 9/10.